ISKP massacres group of Hazara in Central Afghanistan

On 12 September 2024, various Afghan news agencies reported a militant attack against a group of Hazara men on a road between Daykundi and Ghor provinces. The following day, Taliban Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the attack, claiming it took the lives of 14 people, and injured six others.

ISKP claimed the attack a few hours after it occurred, in a statement that read:

“15 Rafidis (Shias) killed and 6 others injured in an attack by the Caliphate soldiers in central Afghanistan. By the grace of Allah Almighty, the soldiers of the Caliphate targeted a group of apostate Rafidis in the village of Qaryudal, between the Daikundi and Ghor regions in central Afghanistan, with machine guns, which led to the killing of 15 Rafidis and wounding 6 others, praise and thanks be to Allah.”

In addition to the claim, the group also shared six photos of the attack on a private Telegram channel. The images appeared to be screenshots of a recording of the incident, however no footage was made available. The photos showed a group of Hazara men standing together, likely as the ISKP members approached them. Subsequent photos showed the men running from gunfire, as well as images of bodies on the ground. The photos reached X (formerly Twitter), as several news agencies and users shared them on the platform.

AW geolocated the location of the incident to a road connecting Daykundi province’s Qaryudal village with Pahlow Sang village in Ghor province.

The Independent Persian reportedly spoke to one of the survivors. According to the unnamed individual, the group of 17 Hazara men were preparing to meet the pilgrims of Karbala (a key pilgrimage site for Shia Muslims) and escort them to Qaryudal, their village, when four armed masked men stopped them. They identified themselves as members of the Islamic Emirate and claimed to have received a report that one of the members of the group was suspected of “destructive activity.” 

The armed men reportedly took the belongings of the Hazara men, including mobile phones, and lined them up. The witness recalled that three of the men were carrying Kalashnikov rifles, and one had a handgun and a mobile phone which he was using to take photos and record videos. He recalled that the armed men called them “polytheists” while shooting. According to the witness, after the massacre the ISKP members took one of the victims with them.

While AW cannot verify what was said to the group, it can confirm that ISKP published pictures showing five Hazara men in a line. In separate photos, three of those five men were seen on the ground after being shot, with the two remaining ones appearing to run from gunfire, towards Qaryudal village, which is over two kilometres away. It is therefore possible that some of the four men seen running were among the reported survivors.

Photos published by ISKP confirmed the presence of at least one Kalashnikov rifle, and a handgun, identified as a Glock 9 in 9mm, as seen below.

After the attack various social media users shared photos of the bodies at the same location of where ISKP had taken photos of the men in a line. AW verified the presence of 14 bodies laid on the ground, with similar clothes as the ones observed in all the photos published by the violent extremist group. One of the survivors, who spoke to the Independent Persian, said that he called local Taliban officials requesting them to come to the scene and track down the perpetrators; however, Taliban authorities reportedly took several hours to arrive.

On 13 September 2024 Afghan news agencies and social media users shared videos of the funeral of the 14 men. AW geolocated the service to Qaryudal village in the Sang-e-Takht district of Daykundi province, bordering Ghor province, where the men were reportedly from.

Anwar Saadat Yar, a social media user claiming to be a journalist, shared a list containing the names of the 14 men killed, alongside photos of 12 of them. AW can confirm that some of the faces on the photos match the ones seen in the images published by ISKP.

On 12 September 2024, hours after the attack, Afghanistan International published an audio file with a statement from a local resident. According to the man, the Taliban promised to provide security in the area just days earlier. 

Since the Taliban assumed control in Afghanistan in August 2021, ISKP has claimed responsibility for 41 attacks targeting the Shia community. This specific attack is noteworthy, as it involved ISKP posing as Taliban to stop a relatively large group of Hazara civilians and then their execution. Of the 41 attacks, the majority (31) were improvised explosive device (IED) attacks. There were also four suicide attacks, and four targeted shootings involving pistols and Kalashinkov rifles.

Moreover, this incident marks the third attack by ISKP in the central Afghan provinces since August 2021, all of which occurred in 2024. In June 2024, ISKP claimed responsibility for a targeted attack in the Dawlat Yar district of Ghor province, where a local Taliban official was killed by gunfire; and in May 2024, ISKP claimed responsibility for an assault on foreign tourists in neighbouring Bamyan province, resulting in six fatalities and seven injuries from gunfire.